The enterprising and always energetic Erich Bitter (obituary)
07/13/2023
Almost everyone knows Erich Bitter, or at least his cars. He was born on August 11, 1933 in Schwelm. A trained businessman, Erich Bitter developed a feeling for speed from an early age, initially making a career as a racing cyclist and later as a car racer. He developed and sold tuning parts and imported Intermeccanica sports cars to Germany from 1969.
In 1971, Erich Bitter founded the company Bitter Automobile GmbH and production of the elegant Bitter CD coupé, which was based on the technical platform of the Opel Diplomat V8, began as early as 1973. The 2+2-seater coupé was sold 395 times.
Development of the Bitter SC coupé , which used the mechanics of the Opel Senator, began as early as 1977. The SC was launched on the market in 1979. 27 convertibles and five four-door SC4 saloons were also produced in addition to the 418 two-door coupé.
Erich Bitter also created the following prototypes: Roadster/Targa GT (1983/84, 1500/year planned); Coupé Type III (1987-1991, 10,000 planned for Isuzu USA, only 6 built); Limousine Diplomat (1989); Coupé CD2 (2004/ 2005, based on Holden Monaro); Limousine Vero (2007-2010, based on Holden Caprice, 6.0-V8, 9 built) and several more.
Even at well over 80 years of age, he was still in business. He tuned current Opel models and opened a new branch in Metzingen at the end of the decade.
I met Erich Bitter at the IAA in the fall of 2019 and he told me that he would love to continue building sports cars like the Bitter CD, but that it would be much more expensive in modern times than in the past and would have little chance of financial success. Back then, he had paid over 5 million for the pressing tools to produce the CD; today it would cost several times as much. What's more, you can no longer buy "know-how kits" like the Opel Diplomat back then.
Even in his old age, Erich still took great pleasure in his car. He would have turned 90 this year, but an illness finally ended his life on July 10, 2023. We already miss this busy enthusiast!
